Tootfinder

Sounds like Streeting is likely to resign and make a move on the leadership. Leaked during the King's speech, which is interesting timing.
What's the funniest possible outcome?
Perhaps a four way contest without Burnham coz he can't get a seat in time, won on 26% of the votes by Starmer.
Making it obvious Starmer only holds like a quarter of the MPs in support, we keep the same lame duck now even lamer, all the challengers are rebuked, and even if Andy gets a seat later the contest is over and nobody has the stomach for another one.
Not a prediction, just musing on the most hilarious thing. Which is probably also the worst thing for the country.
#ukpol #streeting #starmer

Starmer is doing a thing about election results. Is he resigning?
He says the elections were tough, he lost brilliant representatives. He feels the hurt and takes responsibility. Not just for the results, but also for explaining how they'll do better in the years ahead.
Times are dangerous, opponents are very dangerous, if we don't get it right the country will be on a very dark path.
He takes responsibility for navigation in this dangerous world and for not walking away.
Oh right, he's not resigning then. 😦
He says he'll prove his doubters wrong. He's learned a lot! And realizes now we need a bigger response to this unordinary times.
Times demand serious progressive leadership he says, and Zack or Nigel can't provide that. [Citation needed] Only Labour can [Really, come on, citation needed]
He's pleased to be reducing NHS waiting lists and crime, and for some reason is pleased migration is coming down too.
He says he realizes that people don't think Labour cares about them. So that's something.
So his plan to fix things after this election is to talk more about why he's doing things instead of just saying what he's doing.
Right. Sure. That'll help.
He admits millions of people, like his sister, don't get respect or help and are held back because the status quo doesn't work.
He says he's fighting for them but, eh, perhaps he should be doing that thing where he says more about why and how?
He says we need a complete break to take control of energy and defense and fairness (he isn't resigning though, not THAT complete a break)
"Strength Through Fairness, Hope and Urgency" is his plan.
Three concrete examples of the plan:
Sure, about time, not like the Greens are against that.
Doesn't sound like he wants a re-join though, so not really sure what this means. The EU don't allow partial memberships or cherry picking benefits. Some kind of external heart I guess, an outside-body heart pump?
No. He's going to guarantee training or work placements to school leavers.
So in response to likely being unelected next time, he'll nationalize steel (now he's failed to find a corporate buyer anyway), is going to renegotiate with Europe (again, they have no better offers to give), and offer apprenticeships to education-leavers (who are still going to be mostly in debt by then).
Right.
Oh, and he's going to ban more marches too. Almost forgot that.
What a cock.
He did sound a bit passionate at least for a change.
#ukpol #starmer

Burnham is on the radio doing a launch speech.
He thinks the people of Makerfield are going to write the script for the whole UK.
Namechecks every local borough.
There's been forty years of policies that leave people struggling, that took away jobs, can't afford homes. [yep]
Namechecks some local companies and football teams and schools in a story about a football game. He lived here a long time and likes it.
It's unjust what Westminster has done to this place which makes him very angry.
So the election is a call for change, for these local people in particular, to the economy, education, transport, care, and politics.
More tech schools not concentrating only on university degrees.
He wants to get to the point where the council is building more homes than its losing. New cheap council homes.
Imagine some local person suddenly called to a job interview in the city, they have to pay 364 quid to get to the city. Re-nationalize rail to make rail fares sane.
His dad is in a care home. A local one. Its run for profit. Which needs to change so that it's provided on NHS terms with a social care system that supports the NHS.
We won't get those things without changing politics.
Manchester is the fastest growing city because of how he worked with business. He loves working with business too. Public "control" working with business over busses has been good in Manchester he recons [I think people generally agree, but I dunno]
Note, he says, how he's not been dissing the other parties. He doesn't want that. [Good actually]
He wants his own party to change too.
A vote for him is a vote to change Labour. To change it back to the one the people used to know. On the side of working class people and communities.
This is not a new journey, he has always been working to make the lives of local people better. Ever since his first day walking into the Labour club when the manager said "You're on, between the bingo and the turn, keep it short".
His three word slogan: I'm For Us.
Its a very good speech. He is very personable. Sounds like a normal person not remotely like a robot the way ministers tend to.
It does sounds a lot like what Starmer was saying when he was running for selection four years ago. He hasn't explained how he can do all that given the constraints Starmer thinks he is under. Which of those constraints are wrong.
That Andy Burnham will win this contest.
#UkPol #labour #makerField #andyBurnham

In my ward the greens seem to have got about a third of the vote vs Labour with the rest. 2:1
Which is a big improvement. 300 or so neighbors to turn.
In the borough we've gone from unanimous Labor to about a third Green. Which is oddly proportional to my ward. Not really sure I understand the actual counting system with the three votes I had or if it's PR or not.
Nationally its awful for Labour but also worse for the country since outside London they lost mostly to the Reform (nee Brexit) party/private-company.
Conservatives seem irrelevant, even Lib Dems more important.
I've been casting doubt upon the idea of an imminent Reform government, saying it'd be unprecedented for Reform to go from one ever elected MP to 400 MPs in a single election. But these elections feel pretty close to that kind of swing.
Starmer says he'll stay on. He has no concept of what government should do other than give tax breaks to businesses to try to get economic growth, and crack down in authoritarian ways with increased surveillance and ID checks and prosecuting protestors.
He doesn't seem to realize that government can just do things, especially after Brexit. It can just pay people to build infrastructure owned by and giving profit to the state. It does not need private investment. Isn't that supposed to be the point of a Labour party?
So things will continue to get worse and Labour will continue to chase Reform policies (and so validate them). So Reform may well win.
There is one hope. Burnham could resign as mayor, a safe-seat MP could resign, and Burnham stands there. Assuming he wins he could then stand for leadership. And then if he wins and then actually does something despite the protest of the right wing of his own party, maybe things could get better.
That's a lot of conditionals. You'd want good odds to place a bet on that.
Or the greens of course. These elections have seen hundreds of new green councilors. The momentum is good. Probably take the council here next time unless that Burnham things happens.
So good for Greens, but better for Reform, and we could do with a Labour party which wasn't failing.
Oh well. Fingers crossed I guess. Few more years till the national ones.
#ukpol

Chris Kennedy, a registered nurse and children's safeguarding specialist
So it's decided then, there is indeed to be a Green candidate at the by election. Phew. Seemed a bit last minute there, thought maybe there were gonna fail to find someone.
Suppose someone working in child safeguarding is probably pretty careful with his social media ranting and law abiding so that should be pretty safe hopefully.
Don't know him at all. Hopefully he'll get some air time, increase his profile, increase the green vote share.
How much the Green's time, effort, and money the party will spend on the campaign is still to be seen. Can certainly see the argument for not wasting resources in a campaign you're unlikely to win.
But hopefully the assembled world camera will get to hear the Green message at least.
#green #ukpol #makerfield #chrisKennedy

One of the best things about Brexit is how we left a power-block in which we had a veto and a vote and a large soft power reputation and a real say in it's policy and outcomes.
And now, instead, we have to do whatever the mad king in America wants. Bomb whoever he wants. Let him store his weapons and his bombs here. Fly his airplanes on our runways. Pay whatever tariff on trade he demands, accept his hormone ridden meat and unsanitary chicken processes.
And we have less say in it all than Puerto Rico, much less than any actual full blown state.
We ceded control of the EU to Germany, just abandoned any say in what happens there for no reason at all, and are left begging treats from a powerful clown's table like a yapping little toy dog.
The final step down the power-escalator, from empire to now less say in world affairs than Austria or Finland which at least have EU voting rights and members in the EU parliament.
Now just airport 1, a runway which the US uses as it pleases and no say in anything.
What a move from England, absolute masterclass of dim witted self destructive spite. Couldn't hope for a better example. Textbook. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
#war #brexit #power #ukpol

UK Media is shrill over Zack Polanski pressing a retweet on a post wondering if some cops used excessive force.
Apparently police are so weak that someone retweeting about them using excessive force might stop them wanting to use any force at all! We'll be overrun with crime because the police will be too scared to do anything in case the leader of the 4th largest party retweets something mean about them.
This is very important they shriek, all in a panic, and surely shows that the Green party want criminals to rule the country.
#ukpol #media #green #zackPolanski